Systems and methods for establishing and controlling conference call bridges

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods allow an administrator of a conference call bridge to control who is admitted to the conference call bridge. The systems and methods also allow the administrator to identify a new individual who will become the administrator of the conference call bridge when a triggering event occurs. The systems and methods also allow an administrator to identify a new endpoint device from which valid control commands can be received.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention is related to conference calling, and more specifically,to systems and methods for establishing and controlling conference callbridges.

The way in which a traditional conference calling bridge can becontrolled is somewhat limited. For example, in a traditional conferencecalling bridge one individual or one telephony device is typicallyestablished as the administrator or controller of the conference call.The individual can issue control commands and possibly alter settingsfor the conference call bridge. However, it is not possible to designatea new individual or telephony device as the administrator. As a result,if the administrator or controller of a conference call must leave theconference call, or becomes disconnected due to a connectivity problem,the conference call may be prematurely terminated against the will ofthe other conference call participants. Even when the conference callcan continue after the administrator has become disconnected, it isimpossible for a new individual to act as the administrator and issuecontrol commands.

In addition, in a traditional conference calling arrangement theadministrator provides participants with a telephone number to call, andan access code that the participant must enter to gain access to theconference call bridge. Unfortunately, it is possible for oneparticipant to share this information with another individual who theadministrator never intended to have present on the conference callbridge. Thus, an administrator typically has only a limited degree ofcontrol over who is allowed to join a conference call bridge.

It would be desirable to provide conference call bridges which enable anadministrator to exert a greater degree of control. In particular, itwould be desirable to provide an administrator with a greater degree ofcontrol over who joins a conference call bridge. It would also bedesirable to provide the administrator with the ability to designateanother individual or another telephony device that is authorized toissue control commands.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a communications environment including variouselements which are associated with an Internet protocol (IP) telephonysystem operating in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of various elements of a processor that forms partof an IP telephony system and/or part of a conference call bridgecontrol unit and/or user's telephony device;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a conference callbridge control unit;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating steps of a method for configuringa conference call bridge;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating steps of a method for routing anincoming caller that is attempting to reach a user, or a conference callbridge that has been setup by the user;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating steps of another method forrouting an incoming caller that is attempting to reach a user, or aconference call bridge that has been setup by the user;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating steps of another method forrouting an incoming caller that is attempting to reach a user, or aconference call bridge that has been setup by the user;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating steps of a method for altering theidentity of an administrator of a conference call bridge;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating steps of a method for altering theendpoint telephony device that is able to control a conference callbridge;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating steps of another method foraltering the endpoint telephony device that is able to control aconference call bridge; and

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating steps of another method foraltering the endpoint telephony device that is able to control aconference call bridge.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description of preferred embodiments refers tothe accompanying drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments of theinvention. Other embodiments having different structures and operationsdo not depart from the scope of the present invention.

The systems and methods disclosed and claimed herein relate toconference calling bridges, and control systems and methods forcontrolling conference call bridges. The conference call bridges andcontrol systems could be implemented by a telephony system provideroperating over a publically switched telephone network (PSTN), by acellular telephony system provider operating via a cellular telephonysystem and/or a PSTN, or by an Internet protocol (IP) telephony system.However, implementing the disclosed conference call bridge technologyvia an IP telephony system may provide greater functionality than wouldbe possible with a more traditional PSTN or cellular telephony network.For this reason, we first provide a basic description of elements of anIP telephony system, and how it interacts with various different typesof telephony devices before turning to a detailed description of theconference call bridge technology.

Although many of the following descriptions of the disclosed conferencecall bridge control technology refer to use of an IP telephony system,it is to be understood that the disclosed and claimed systems andmethods could be implemented by other types of telephony systems. Thus,any references to an IP telephony system should in no way be consideredlimiting.

In the following description, the terms VOIP system, VOIP telephonysystem, IP system and IP telephony system are all intended to refer to asystem that connects callers and that delivers data, text or videocommunications using Internet protocol data communications.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a communications environment 100 is providedto facilitate IP based communications. An IP telephony system 120enables connection of telephone calls between its own customers andother parties via data communications that pass over a data network. Thedata network is commonly the Internet 110, however, private datanetworks may form all or a portion of the data communication path. TheIP telephony system 120 is connected to the Internet 110. In addition,the IP telephony system 120 is connected to both a publicly switchedtelephone network (PSTN) 140 and a cellular telephony network 130 viaone or more gateways 122.

The gateway 122 allows users and devices that are connected to the PSTN140 and cellular network 130 to connect with users and devices that arereachable through the IP telephony system 120, and vice versa. In someinstances, the gateway 122 would be a part of the IP telephony system120. In other instances, the gateway 122 could be maintained by a thirdparty.

Customers of the IP telephony system 120 can place and receive telephonecalls using an IP telephony device 108 that is connected to the Internet110 via an interface 109. Such an IP telephony device 108 could beconnected to an Internet service provider via a wired connection or viaa wireless router.

Alternatively, a customer could utilize a normal analog telephone 102which is connected to the Internet 110 via a terminal adapter 104 andthe interface 109. The terminal adapter 104 converts analog signals fromthe telephone 102 into digital data signals that pass over the Internet110, and vice versa. Analog telephony devices include, but are notlimited to, standard telephones and document imaging devices such asfacsimile machines.

In addition, a customer could utilize a soft-phone client running on acomputer 106 to place and receive IP based telephone calls, and toaccess other IP telephony systems (not shown). In some instances, thesoft-phone client could be assigned its own telephone number. In otherinstances, the soft-phone client could be associated with a telephonenumber that is also assigned to an IP telephone 108, or to a terminaladaptor 104 that is connected to one or more analog telephones 102.

Likewise, a mobile computing device 137 may be used to send and receivetelephony communications via the IP telephony system 120. The mobilecomputing device 137 could establish a data connection to the Internet110 via a wireless interface 119, such as a WiFi router. IP telephonysoftware on the mobile computing device 137 could then be used toconduct telephony communications through the IP telephony system 120.

A third party using an analog telephone 132 which is connected to thePSTN 140 may call a customer of the IP telephony system 120. In thisinstance, the call is initially connected from the analog telephone 132to the PSTN 140, and then from the PSTN 140, through the gateway 122 tothe IP telephony system 120. The IP telephony system 120 then routes thecall to the customer's IP telephony device. Likewise, a third partyusing a cellular telephone 136 could also place a call to an IPtelephony system customer, and the connection would be established in asimilar manner, although the first link would involve communicationsbetween the cellular telephone 136 and a cellular telephony network 130.

In addition, a smartphone 138 that includes both mobile computingcapabilities and cellular telephony capabilities can connect to thecellular network 130 using its cellular telephone capabilities. However,the smartphone 138 also may establish a data connection to the IPtelephony system 120 via a wireless interface 119 and the Internet 110.In this instance, communications between the smartphone 138 and otherparties could be entirely carried by data communications. Of course,alternate embodiments could utilize any other form of wired or wirelesscommunications path to enable communications.

Users of the first IP telephony system 120 are able to access theservice from virtually any location where they can connect to theInternet 110. Thus, a customer could register with an IP telephonysystem provider in the U.S., and that customer could then use an IPtelephony device 108 located in a country outside the U.S. to access theservices. Likewise, the customer could also utilize a computer with IPtelephony software 106 or a mobile computing device with IP telephonysoftware 137 outside the U.S. to access the IP telephony system 120.Further, in some instances a user could place a telephone call with theanalog telephone 132 or the cellular telephone 136 that is routedthrough the PSTN 140 or cellular network 130, respectively, to the IPtelephony system 120 via the gateway 122. This would typically beaccomplished by the user calling a local telephone number that is routedto the IP telephony system 120 via the gateway 122. Once connected tothe IP telephony system 120, the user may then place an outgoing longdistance call to anywhere in the world using the IP telephony system'snetwork. Thus, the user is able place a long distance call using lowercost IP telephony service provided by the IP telephony system 120,rather than a higher cost service provided by the PSTN 140 or cellularnetwork 130.

FIG. 2 illustrates elements of a computer processor 250 that can be usedas part of the IP telephony system 120, as part of a conference callbridge control unit, or as part of a user's telephony device, toaccomplish various functions. An IP telephony system 120, a conferencecall bride control unit and a telephony device could all includemultiple processors 250, along with their respective operatingcomponents and programming, each carrying out a specific or dedicatedportion of the functions performed by the IP telephony system 120, bythe conference call bridge control unit, or by the telephony device.

The processor 250 shown in FIG. 2 may be one of any form of a generalpurpose computer processor used in accessing an IP-based network, suchas a corporate intranet, the Internet or the like. The processor 250comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 252, a memory 254, and supportcircuits 256 for the CPU 252. The processor 250 also includes provisions258/260 for connecting the processor 250 to customer equipment, toservice provider equipment, to and IP network or gateways, as well aspossibly one or more input/output devices (not shown) for accessing theprocessor and/or performing ancillary or administrative functionsrelated thereto. The provisions 258/260 are shown as separate busstructures in FIG. 2; however, they may alternately be a single busstructure without degrading or otherwise changing the intendedoperability of the processor 250.

The memory 254 is coupled to the CPU 252. The memory 254, orcomputer-readable medium, may be one or more of readily available memorysuch as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), floppy disk,hard disk, flash memory or any other form of digital storage, local orremote, and is preferably of non-volatile nature. The support circuits256 are coupled to the CPU 252 for supporting the processor in aconventional manner. These circuits include cache, power supplies, clockcircuits, input/output circuitry and subsystems, and the like.

A software routine 262, when executed by the CPU 252, causes theprocessor 250 to perform processes of the disclosed embodiments, and isgenerally stored in the memory 254. The software routine 262 may also bestored and/or executed by a second CPU (not shown) that is remotelylocated from the hardware being controlled by the CPU 252. Also, thesoftware routines could also be stored remotely from the CPU. Forexample, the software could be resident on servers and memory devicesthat are located remotely from the CPU, but which are accessible to theCPU via a data network connection.

The software routine 262, when executed by the CPU 252, transforms thegeneral purpose computer into a specific purpose computer that performsone or more functions of the IP telephony system 120, a conference callbridge control unit and/or a user's telephony device. Although theprocesses of the disclosed embodiments may be discussed as beingimplemented as a software routine, some of the method steps that aredisclosed therein may be performed in hardware as well as by a processorrunning software. As such, the embodiments may be implemented insoftware as executed upon a computer system, in hardware as anapplication specific integrated circuit or other type of hardwareimplementation, or a combination of software and hardware. The softwareroutine 262 of the disclosed embodiments is capable of being executed onany computer operating system, and is capable of being performed usingany CPU architecture.

In the following description, references will be made to a “telephonydevice.” This term is used to refer to any type of device which iscapable of interacting with a telephony system to conduct or participatein a telephony communication. This includes traditional analogtelephones, cellular telephones, IP telephones configured to conducttelephony communications via IP data communications, as well as othercomputing devices which can be configured to conduct telephonycommunications via data communications, such as a computer running IPtelephony software. Because various different computing devices can beconfigured to conduct telephony communications via a data network, asingle device might be capable of operating as both a computing deviceand as a telephony device.

Certain devices that are not traditionally used as telephony devices mayact as telephony devices once they are configured with appropriateclient software. One example would be a desktop or a laptop computerthat is running software that can interact with an IP telephony systemover a data network to conduct telephone calls. Another example would bea portable computing device, such as an Apple iPod touch™ or an AppleiPad™, which includes a speaker and a microphone. A software applicationloaded onto an Apple iPad™ can be run so that the Apple iPad™ caninteract with an IP telephony system to conduct a telephone call.

The following description will also refer to telephony communicationsand telephony activity. These terms are intended to encompass all typesof telephony communications, regardless of whether all or a portion ofthe communications are carried in an analog or digital format. Telephonycommunications could include audio or video telephone calls, facsimiletransmissions, text messages, SMS messages, MMS messages, videomessages, and all other types of telephony and data communications sentby or received by a user. These terms are also intended to encompassdata communications that are conveyed through a PSTN or VOIP telephonysystem. In other words, these terms are intended to encompass anycommunications whatsoever, in any format, which traverse all or aportion of a communications network or telephony network.

FIG. 3 illustrates elements of a conference call bridge control unit 300which can be used to setup and control conference call bridges. Asmentioned above, the conference call bridge control unit 300 could bepart of an IP telephony system 120 as illustrated in FIG. 1.Alternatively, the conference call bridge control unit 300 could be partof a different type of telephony system, or it could be a stand-aloneunit that is not connected to any particular telephony system.

The conference call bridge control unit 300 includes a bridgeestablishment unit 302, which itself includes a bridge settings database304. An individual wishing to set up a new conference call bridge wouldinteract with the bridge establishment 302. That interaction wouldtypically include providing details about the conference call bridge,such as a date and time that the conference call will start, and a listof participants who are to be added to the conference call bridge.

In some embodiments, the conference call bridge can be tied to the sametelephone number that is assigned to a telephony system user's regulartelephony device. In other instances, the conference call bridge may betied to a specific number assigned to the conference call bridge, or toa central telephone number that is used to access many differentconference call bridges.

For example, a user could specify that any time certain people dial hisregular telephone number, those people are to be automatically added toa conference call bridge. The user could also setup multiple differentconference call bridges, all of which are tied to his regular telephonenumber. The user would provide a separate list of people for each of theconference call bridges, each list including those individuals who areto be automatically added to the respective conference calling bridgewhen they dial the user's regular telephone number.

When the conference call bridges are set up in this fashion, any timethat a caller places a telephone call to the user's regular telephonenumber, an element of the conference call bridge control unit 300receives that incoming call setup request. The element of the conferencecall bridge control unit 300 that receives the telephone call wouldtypically be provided with some information about the calling party, inthe form of caller ID information. This could include both the telephonenumber of the calling party, and/or the calling party's name.

The element of the conference call bridge control unit that receives theincoming telephone call then compares the information it receivedidentifying the calling party to the lists of people that the user hasspecified are to be automatically added to his conference callingbridges. If the calling party is identified as a participant for one ofthe conference call bridges that the user has established, then thecalling party would be automatically connected to that conference callbridge.

One example of such a scenario would be if a user sets up a conferencecall bridge that is dedicated to his own family members. The user wouldprovide the bridge establishment unit 302 with identifying informationfor each of the user's family members. This could include the familymembers' telephone numbers and/or their names. This information would bestored in the bridge settings database 304. Once the user has setup theconference call bridge for his family members, any time that a familymember calls the user's regular telephone number, the caller isimmediately connected to the conference call bridge setup for the user'sfamily members.

In some embodiments, it will not be necessary for the user to actuallybe on the conference call bridge for the conference call bridge to beactive and in use by other individuals. For example, in the embodimentdescribed above, where a user sets up a conference call bridge for hisfamily members, it would be possible for two or more family members tocall the user's regular telephone number and to be added to theconference call bridge setup for the user's family members while theuser himself never participates in the conference call.

In some embodiments, when a caller dials the user's regular telephonenumber, the caller may be asked to interact with an interactive voiceresponse system to determine if the caller wishes to be added to aconference call bridge, or if the caller wishes to directly speak withthe user himself. Based on the caller's responses, the call would theneither be directed to a conference call bridge or the call could beconnected directly to a user's telephony device or to a voicemailsystem.

The conference call bridge control unit 300 illustrated in FIG. 3 alsoincludes a bridge control unit 306. The bridge control unit 306 is usedto perform control functions on an ongoing conference call bridge. Thosecontrol functions could include adding additional participants to theconference call bridge, muting the audio feed from one or moreparticipant's telephony device, removing a participant from a conferencecall bridge, as well as other control functions. For example, anadministrator of a conference call bridge may initiate a privateone-on-one call with a participant while the conference call is ongoing,and no other participants would be able to hear the audio of thatone-on-one call. An administrator may be able to transfer control overthe conference call bridge from one endpoint (such as a telephony deviceor a computer-implemented user interface) to a second endpoint. As willbe described in more detail below, the control functions also couldinclude transferring control over the conference call bridge to adifferent party. The administrator may be able to turn on and turn off atranscription service that generates a transcription of the spoken audiothat is hear over the conference call bridge. Of course, many othercontrol functions may also be possible.

The conference call bridge control unit 300 also includes a callhandling unit 308. The call handling unit 308 receives incomingtelephone calls from calling parties, and then direct those calls to themost appropriate location. For example, and as described above, if anincoming call is from a calling party that is on a list provided by theuser for a specific conference call bridge, the incoming call could beautomatically connected to that conference call bridge. If an incomingcall is from a calling party that is not listed for any of theconference call bridges which have been established by the user, thecall could be routed to a default endpoint such as the user's telephonydevice, or perhaps to a voicemail system.

The conference call bridge control unit 300 also includes an audio/videofeed handling unit 310. The audio/video feed handling unit 310 providesthe conference call bridge control unit 300 with the ability to controlhow audio feeds are distributed to conference call participants, and tothe user himself. As will be described in more detail below, this couldallow the user who has setup a conference call bridge to monitor theongoing audio of a conference call bridge, while simultaneously talkingto a new caller. If the user decides to add the new caller to theconference call bridge, the user could issue an appropriate controlcommand which would be acted on by the bridge control unit 306 to addthe new caller to an existing conference call bridge. At that point intime, both the user and the new caller would become active participantsin the conference call bridge.

FIG. 4 illustrates the steps of a method used to setup a conferencecalling bridge like the ones discussed above, where a caller isautomatically added to the conference call bridge if a user includes thecaller in a list of individuals or telephone numbers associated with theconference call bridge. The method 400 begins and proceeds to step S402where the bridge establishment unit 302 of a conference call bridgecontrol unit 300 obtains identifiers for individuals that are to beautomatically added to the conference call bridge. The identifiers couldbe telephone numbers, the names of people who are to be added asparticipants, identifiers associated with the telephony devices used byindividuals, or other identifiers. The method then proceeds to step S404where the bridge establishment unit 302 establishes the conference callbridge. This could include recording settings for the conference callbridge in the bridge settings database 304 of the bridge establishmentunit 302.

A conference call bridge which is established by the method illustratedin FIG. 4 could be tied to a dedicated telephone number for theconference call bridge, or it could be tied to the user's regulartelephone number. When a calling party who wishes to be a participant ona conference call bridge dials a telephone number associated with theconference call bridge, it may be necessary for the caller to provideadditional information before the caller is added to the conference callbridge. In other embodiments, however, the caller is automatically addedto the conference call bridge because the caller has been listed as aparticipant on the conference call bridge by the user who setup theconference call bridge.

FIG. 5 illustrates steps of a method that would be performed by elementsof a conference call bridge control unit 300 to direct a calling partyto the appropriate location. The method 500 begins and proceeds to stepS502 where a call handling unit 308 receives an incoming telephone callwhich has been placed to a telephone number associated with a conferencecall bridge. As noted above, that telephone number could be the regulartelephone of the user who setup the conference call bridge, or someother telephone number which has been assigned to the conference callbridge. Note: the user who set up the conference call bridge may be ableto join the conference call bridge by calling his own telephone number.

The method then proceeds to step S504 where the call handling unit 308obtains information about the caller. This could include receivingsignaling information or other information conveyed with the call setup,including, for example, caller ID information which provides anindication of the telephone number and/or name of the calling party.Such information could be passed in, for example, SIP headers. Othertypes of obtained information may include information about the endpointor telephony device that a calling party is using to access theconference call bridge, such as whether the device is a computer runningtelephony software, a dedicated telephony device, or some other type ofdevice, an IP address of the telephony device, a type or model of thedevice, and perhaps information about the local time of the callingparty. In other embodiments, the calling party could interact with aninteractive voice response system to provide identifying information.The identifying information could be a telephone number, the caller'sname, or a code or identification number which is associated with thecalling party, a code or identification number that is associated withthe calling party's telephony device, and/or an identification code ornumber associated with the conference call bridge. The informationprovided need not be limited to just identifying information, but couldbe any information that may be manually input or otherwise communicatedby the caller.

The method then proceeds to step S506 where the call handling unit 308uses the obtained identifying information to determine whether thecalling party is listed as a participant for a conference call bridge.In this example, we will assume that the calling party called theregular telephone number of a user that setup at least one conferencecall bridge via a method similar to the one illustrated in FIG. 4. Thus,step S506 would involve using the obtained identifying information todetermine if the calling party is listed as a participant for any of theconference call bridges that have been setup by the user.

If the calling party is listed as a participant on one of the user'sconference call bridges, the method proceeds to step S508 and the calleris connected to that conference call bridge. In some embodiments, themethod may include an optional step S510 where the user who setup theconference call bridge is notified that the calling party has just beenconnected to the conference call bridge.

If the check performed in step S506 indicates that the calling party isnot listed as a participant for any of the user's conference callbridges, the call handling unit 308 the method proceeds to step S512,where a check is performed to determine whether the caller is listed ona contact list or address book which is maintained for the user, orwhich is present on one of user's telephony devices.

If the calling party is listed as one of the user's contacts, in stepS514 the call handling unit 308 directs the call to the user's telephonydevice. If the calling party is not listed as one of the user'scontacts, in step S516 the call is instead routed to the user'svoicemail box. In alternate embodiments, and depending on whether thecalling party is listed as one of the user's contacts, the call could berouted to a predetermined alternate telephone number, such as areceptionist for a business. In some embodiments, if the calling partyis not listed as one of the user's contacts, but the calling party was aparticipant on a previous conference call with some or all of the sameparticipants, the calling party may be automatically added to theconference call bridge. Alternatively, under those circumstances, theuser could be queried to determine if the calling party should be added,and the appropriate action is taken based on the user's response to thequery. Once the call has been directed to a certain endpoint, the methodends.

FIG. 6 illustrates steps of a method which could be performed by aconference call bridge control unit 300 to route a calling party to auser, and then ultimately to add the caller to a conference call bridge.The method 600 begins and proceeds to step S602 where the call handlingunit 308 of a conference call bridge control unit 300 receives anincoming call from a calling party. In step S604, the caller is routedto the user's telephony device. This could occur because the caller isnot listed as a participant on any of the user's conference callbridges, and because the caller is listed as a contact for the user, aswas discussed above in connection with the method illustrated in FIG. 5.

The user and the caller could interact over the connected telephonecall. However, in some embodiments, the user could continue to monitorthe activity of an ongoing conference call bridge while speaking to thecalling party. For example, the audio that is being generated on theconference call bridge could be played over the speaker of the user'stelephony device at the same time that the user is speaking with thecalling party. The calling party will not be able to hear the activityon the conference call bridge. Instead the calling party would believethat they are simply conducting a normal telephone call with the user.If audio from an existing conference call bridge is being played to theuser at the same time he is conducting a telephone call with a newcalling party, the audio from the conference call bridge could be playedat a lower volume level than the audio associated with the telephonecall that has been setup to the calling party. This would allow the userto better focus on his communication with the calling party, but wouldstill provide the user with the ability to monitor the ongoing activityon the conference call bridge.

If the user wishes to add the calling party to an ongoing conferencecall bridge, the user issues an instruction to that effect to the bridgecontrol unit 306. This could be accomplished by pressing keys on akeypad of the user's telephony device. Alternatively, the user may issuesuch a command via a software application running on a separatecomputing device, or via some other fashion. In step S606, the callhandling unit 308 of the conference call bridge control unit 300 wouldreceive that instruction from the user to connect the calling party tothe conference call bridge. The method would then proceed to step S608where the call handling unit 308 connects the calling party to theconference call bridge. The method then ends.

FIG. 7 illustrates steps of a method which could be performed byconference call bridge control unit 300 to create a new conference callbridge and to add a caller to that new conference call bridge. A methodas illustrated in FIG. 7 allows the user to create a new conference callbridge on the fly when a calling party attempts to contact the user. Theuser could then direct subsequent calling parties to that sameconference call bridge after it has been established. In addition, theuser could go back to the bridge establishment unit 302 and provideidentifying information for additional people who are to becomeparticipants in the newly created conference call bridge.

The method 700 begins and proceeds to step S702 where a call handlingunit 308 receives an incoming call directed to a user's regulartelephone number, which is associated with one or more conference callbridges. In step S704 the caller is routed to the user's telephonydevice. This could occur via a method as illustrated in FIG. 5, wherethe caller is routed to the user's telephony device because the callingparty is not listed as a participant of any of the user's conferencecall bridges, and because the calling party is listed as one of theuser's contacts.

At that point, the calling party and user could converse with oneanother via the telephone call which has been established between thecalling party and the user's telephony device. If the user wishes tocreate a new conference call bridge which will be used by the callingparty, the user would issue such an instruction, and the instructionwould be received by one or more elements of the conference call bridgecontrol unit 300 in step S706. The instruction could be issued in manyways, such as entering a predetermined code through a keypad of theuser's telephony device; issuing a spoken command; or otherwiseinteracting with a graphical user interface. Next, in step S708, thebridge establishment unit 302 creates a new conference call bridge. Thenew conference bridge may be assigned an identifier to facilitate itsuse and reference by the user in the future. In step S710, the caller isconnected to the new conference call bridge.

As mentioned above, a bridge control unit 306 of a conference callbridge control unit 300 could allow a user who has established aconference call bridge to perform various control functions. One ofthose functions could be to change the individual or telephony devicewhich is able to exert control over a conference call bridge. Forexample, when a user sets up a new conference call bridge, the userwould be listed as the administrator of the conference call bridge. Theadministrator is the individual who is able to issue control commands toaccomplish certain functions, such as adding new participants, mutingthe audio feed from selected participants, deleting an existingparticipant from a conference call bridge, and other similar controlfunctions. The user typically issues those control commands from atelephony device. The telephony device could be the user's regulartelephony device associated with a particular telephone number that isalso associated with the conference call bridge. Alternatively, it maybe possible for the administrator to issue control commands from othertelephony devices, or possibly from a software application running on acomputing device.

The method illustrated in FIG. 8 begins and proceeds to step S802 wherethe bridge control unit 306 of a conference call bridge control unit 300receives an instruction from the current administrator of a conferencecall bridge to change the individual who is to act as the administratorof the conference call bridge upon the occurrence of a certaintriggering event. In some instances, the instruction received in stepS802 could identify the name of the individual who is to become the newadministrator. In other embodiments, the instruction received in stepS802 could include an identifier associated with a telephony device or acomputing device that is used by the individual who is to become theadministrator, such as a telephone number.

The method then proceeds to step S804 where a check is performed todetermine if the triggering event has occurred. The triggering eventcould merely be the receipt of the instruction to change theadministrator which occurs in step S802. Alternatively, the instructionreceived in step S802 may indicate that the administrator for theconference call bridge is to change to a new individual at a certainspecified date and time. The instruction could further specify that theadministrator is to revert back to the original administrator at adifferent date and time. Under these scenarios, the check performed instep S802 would be to determine if the triggering date and time havearrived.

If the check performed in step S804 indicates that the triggering eventhas not yet occurred, the method proceeds to step S803 where a delayperiod is allowed to expire. The method then loops back to step S804 toperform another check to determine whether the triggering event hasoccurred.

When the check performed in step S804 indicates that the triggeringevent has occurred, the method proceeds to step S806, where the settingsof the conference call bridge are altered to identify the new individualas the administrator of the conference call bridge who is authorized toperform control functions for the conference call bridge. The methodthen ends.

In a method as illustrated in FIG. 8, the triggering event also could bethe current administrator becoming disconnected from the conference callbridge. For example, the current administrator of the conference callbridge could specify that if the current administrator becomesdisconnected from the conference call bridge, then a specific individualshould be named as the new administrator of a conference call bridge.This would allow the current administrator to deliberately leave theconference call, or this could cover a scenario where the currentadministrator becomes inadvertently disconnected from the conferencecall bridge. A further triggering event could be the rejoining of thecall by the prior administrator, whereby he would again become theadministrator. Prioritization between individuals as the defaultadministrator may be maintained as a predetermined and configurablelist.

Moreover, such an instruction might not name a specific individual whois to become the new administrator of the conference call bridge, butrather identify an individual based on objective data. For example, theinstruction could indicate that if the current administrator becomesdisconnected from the conference call, the first individual to join theconference call is to become the new administrator.

FIG. 9 illustrates steps of a method which would be performed byelements of a conference call bridge control unit 300 to change theendpoint device which is able to control a conference call bridge. Forexample, a method as illustrated in FIG. 9 could be used by anadministrator of the conference call bridge to identify a new telephonydevice that the administrator would like to use to control theconference call bridge. The original and new endpoint devices which areused to control the conference call bridge could be a telephony device,or a computing device running a software application.

The method 900 begins and proceeds to step S902 where the bridge controlunit 306 of a conference call bridge control unit 300 receives aninstruction to change the endpoint device which is able to control aconference call bridge. The method then proceeds to step S904 where thesettings of the conference call bridge are altered such that controlcommands can be received from the newly identified endpoint device. Insome embodiments, the setting changed in step S904 would mean thatcontrol commands received from the original endpoint device would beignored, and only commands issued from the new endpoint device would beconsidered valid. In alternate embodiments, the settings changed in stepS904 would result in commands issued from both the original endpointdevice and the newly identified endpoint device being considered valid.

FIG. 10 illustrates steps of another method for altering the endpointdevice which is able to control a conference call bridge. The method1000 begins and proceeds to step S1002 where a bridge control unit 306receives an instruction to transfer control for a conference call bridgeto a new telephony device. The new telephony device is to be theendpoint which is able to issue command instructions for the conferencecall bridge. The command received in step S1002 includes identifyinginformation that identifies the new telephony device, such as atelephone number assigned to the telephony device, an IP addressassociated with an IP telephony device, or some other form ofidentifying information.

The method then proceeds to step S1004 where the call handling unit 308of the conference call bridge control unit 300 places an outgoingtelephone call to the new telephony device that was identified in stepS1002. The user would answer that call at the new telephony device. Whenthe user answers the call at the new telephony device, in step S1006 thesettings of the conference call bridge are altered such that controlcommands can now be received from the newly identified telephony device.The method then ends.

In some embodiments, the settings which are altered in step S1006 wouldresult in the bridge control unit ignoring control commands issued fromthe previously endpoint device that was in control of the conferencecall bridge. In other embodiments, the settings altered in step S1006would allow an administrator to issue control commands from both theoriginal endpoint device, and the newly identified telephony device.

FIG. 11 illustrates steps of another method which could be used tochange the endpoint device which can issue commands to control aconference call bridge. The method 1100 begins and proceeds to stepS1102 where the call handling unit 308 of a conference call bridgecontrol unit 300 receives an incoming telephone call which is directedto a telephone number associated with a particular conference callbridge. Once that incoming call has been answered, the user would issuea control command from the calling telephony device which requests thatcalling telephony device be the endpoint device in control of theconference call bridge. In step S1104 the bridge control unit 306 wouldreceive that control command. The bridge control unit 306 then requeststhe user to input a control code. In step S1108 the bridge control unit306 receives input provided by the user from the calling telephonydevice.

In step S1110 a check is performed to determine if the control codeprovided by the user matches a valid control code. If not, the methodwould end. If the control code does match a valid control code, themethod proceeds to step S1112 where the settings of the conference callbridge are altered such that control commands can now be received fromthe telephony device which placed the call to the conference callbridge.

In some embodiments, once control has been transferred to the newendpoint device, any commands issued from the previous endpoint deviceare ignored. In other embodiments, the user may be able to continue touse both the previous endpoint device and the new endpoint device issuecontrol instructions for the conference call bridge.

Some of the foregoing descriptions discussed the invention in terms ofan audio conference call. In alternate embodiments of the invention, theclaimed systems and methods could be used to automatically connect anindividual to a video conference. In such alternate embodiments, insteadof placing an outgoing telephone call to a conference call bridge, thesystem could establish a communications channel to a video conferencecalling system. Thus, any references in the foregoing description andthe following claims to an access telephone number are to be interpretedas also encompassing an access Internet IP address and/or an accessInternet URL. Likewise, any references to a conference call are to beinterpreted as encompassing both audio and video conference calls. Anyreferences to establishing a communications channel are to beinterpreted as encompassing establishing an audio communications channelvia one or more telephony systems, as well as establishing a videocommunications channel via telephony and/or computer or data networks.

Although some of the foregoing descriptions referred to an IP telephonysystem, the same basic methods could also be accomplished by analternate type of telephony system, such as a traditional analogtelephony system or a cellular telephony system. Thus, the use of an IPtelephony system for purposes of describing the technology should in noway be considered limiting.

In many of the foregoing descriptions, a software application running ona telephony device may perform certain functions related to thedisclosed technology. In alternate embodiments, a browser running on thetelephony device may access a software application that is running onsome other device via a data network connection. For example, thesoftware application could be running on a remote server that isaccessible via a data network connection. The software applicationrunning elsewhere, and accessible via a browser on the telephony devicemay provide all of the same functionality as an application running onthe telephony device itself. Thus, any references in the foregoingdescription and the following claims to an application running on atelephony device are intended to also encompass embodiments andimplementations where a browser running on a telephony device accesses asoftware application running elsewhere via a data network.

Also, although many of the examples discussed above relate to telephonycommunications, those telephony communications could be audio or videocalls, video conferences, or other forms of communications. The methodsand techniques described above could be used to enable many differenttypes of communications. Thus, the foregoing references to calls ortelephony communications should in no way be considered limiting.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

While the invention has been described in connection with what ispresently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment,it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to thedisclosed embodiment, but on the contrary, is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a conference call systemfor connecting participants to a conference call bridge, comprising:obtaining identifiers for individuals that are to be automaticallyconnected to the conference call bridge when the individuals place atelephone call to a telephone number corresponding to the conferencecall bridge, wherein the telephone number corresponding to theconference call bridge is the same telephone number that one would dialto place a telephone call directly to an administrator of the conferencecall bridge; receiving a telephone call that has been placed to thetelephone number corresponding to the conference call bridge by a newcaller after at least one individual already has been connected to theconference call bridge; connecting the new caller to a telephony deviceused by the administrator of the conference call bridge, the new callerbeing connected in a whisper mode such that the new caller and theadministrator can talk to one another, such that the administrator canalso hear the audio of the conference call bridge while speaking to thenew caller in the whisper mode, and such that the at least oneindividual who already has been connected to the conference call bridgecannot hear anything spoken by the administrator or the new caller whilethe administrator and new caller are connected to one another in thewhisper mode; and connecting the new caller to the conference callbridge upon receiving an instruction from the administrator to connectthe new caller to the conference call bridge.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein connecting the new caller to the conference call bridgecomprises: receiving an instruction from the administrator to connectthe new caller to the conference call bridge; cancelling the whispermode connection between the new caller and the telephony device used bythe administrator; and connecting the new caller to the conference callbridge.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the conference call bridge isa first conference call bridge, the method further comprising: receivingan instruction from the administrator to connect the new caller to asecond conference call bridge; cancelling the whisper mode connectionbetween the new caller and the telephony device used by theadministrator; and connecting the new caller to the second conferencecall bridge.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending anotification to an administrator of the conference call bridge each timea caller is connected to the conference call bridge.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising determining whether the new caller is one ofthe individuals that is to be automatically connected to the conferencecall bridge based on caller ID information that is obtained when thetelephone call from the new caller is received.
 6. The method of claim1, further comprising determining whether the new caller is one of theindividuals that is to be automatically connected to the conference callbridge by: obtaining information from the new caller that is indicativeof the identity of the new caller; and determining whether the newcaller is one of the individuals that is to be automatically connectedto the conference call bridge based on the obtained information and theobtained identifiers for individuals that are to be automaticallyconnected to the conference call bridge.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein obtaining information from the new caller comprises interactingwith the new caller via an interactive voice response application toobtain the information indicative of the new caller's identity.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the obtaining step comprises obtaining atleast one of telephone numbers and/or names of individuals that are tobe automatically connected to the conference call bridge.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein when a first individual that is to be automaticallyconnected to the conference call bridge calls the telephone numbercorresponding to the conference call bridge, the conference call bridgeis opened and the first individual is automatically connected to theconference call bridge regardless of whether an administrator of theconference call bridge is present on the conference call bridge.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, wherein when subsequent individuals that are to beautomatically connected to the conference call bridge call the telephonenumber corresponding to the conference call bridge, the subsequentindividuals are automatically connected to the conference call bridgewithout requiring the subsequent individuals to provide any informationrelating to the conference call bridge.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein the step of connecting the new caller to a telephony device usedby the administrator of the conference call bridge is performed when thenew caller is not one of the individuals that is to be automaticallyconnected to the conference call bridge, and when the new caller ispresent on a contact list maintained by the administrator.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising connecting the new caller to avoice mailbox when the new caller is not one of the individuals that isto be automatically connected to the conference call bridge, and whenthe new caller is not present on the contact list maintained by theadministrator.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein: the obtaining stepcomprises obtaining a first list of identifiers for individuals that areto be automatically connected to a first conference call bridge andobtaining a second list of identifiers for individuals that are to beautomatically connected to a second conference call bridge when thoseindividuals place a telephone call to a single telephone number thatcorresponds to both the first and second conference call bridges, themethod further comprising; connecting an individual that has called thesingle telephone number to the first conference call bridge withoutrequiring the individual to provide any information relating to thefirst conference call bridge when the individual is one of theindividuals that is to be automatically connected to the firstconference call bridge; and connecting an individual that has called thesingle telephone number to the second conference call bridge withoutrequiring the individual to provide any information relating to thesecond conference call bridge when the individual is one of theindividuals that is to be automatically connected to the secondconference call bridge; and connecting an individual that has called thesingle telephone number to at least one of the telephony device used bythe administrator of the first and second conference call bridges and/ora voice mailbox when the individual is not one of the individuals thatis to be automatically connected to either the first conference callbridge or the second conference call bridge.
 14. A system forcontrolling a conference call bridge, comprising: means for obtainingidentifiers for individuals that are to be automatically connected tothe conference call bridge when the individuals place a telephone callto a telephone number corresponding to the conference call bridge,wherein the telephone number corresponding to the conference call bridgeis the same telephone number that one would dial to place a telephonecall directly to an administrator of the conference call bridge; meansfor receiving a telephone call that has been placed to the telephonenumber corresponding to the conference call bridge by a new caller afterat least one individual already has been connected to the conferencecall bridge; means for connecting the new caller to a telephony deviceused by the administrator of the conference call bridge, the new callerbeing connected in a whisper mode such that the new caller and theadministrator can talk to one another, such that the administrator canalso hear the audio of the conference call bridge while speaking to thenew caller in the whisper mode, and such that the at least oneindividual who already has been connected to the conference call bridgecannot hear anything spoken by the administrator or the new caller whilethe administrator and new caller are connected to one another in thewhisper mode; and means for connecting the new caller to the conferencecall bridge upon receiving an instruction from the administrator toconnect the new caller to the conference call bridge.
 15. A system forcontrolling a conference call bridge, comprising: a bridge establishmentunit that obtains identifiers for individuals that are to beautomatically connected to a conference call bridge when the individualsplace a telephone call to a telephone number corresponding to theconference call bridge, wherein the telephone number corresponding tothe conference call bridge is the same telephone number that one woulddial to place a telephone call directly to an administrator of theconference call bridge; and a call handling unit that: receives atelephone call that has been placed to the telephone numbercorresponding to the conference call bridge by a new caller after atleast one individual already has been connected to the conference callbridge; connects the new caller to a telephony device used by theadministrator of the conference call bridge, the new caller beingconnected in a whisper mode such that the new caller and theadministrator can talk to one another, such that the administrator canalso hear the audio of the conference call bridge while speaking to thenew caller in the whisper mode, and such that the at least oneindividual who already has been connected to the conference call bridgecannot hear anything spoken by the administrator or the new caller whilethe administrator and new caller are connected to one another in thewhisper mode; and connects the new upon receiving an instruction fromthe administrator to connect the new caller to the conference callbridge.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein when the call handling unitreceives an instruction from the administrator to connect the new callerto the conference call bridge, the call handling unit cancels thewhisper mode connection between the new caller and the telephony deviceused by the administrator and connects the new caller to the conferencecall bridge.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the conference callbridge is a first conference call bridge, and wherein when the callhandling unit receives an instruction from the administrator to connectthe new caller to a second conference call bridge, the call handlingunit cancels the whisper mode connection between the new caller and thetelephony device used by the administrator and connects the new callerto the second conference call bridge.
 18. The system of claim 15,wherein the call handling unit sends a notification to the administratorof the conference call bridge each time a caller is added to theconference call bridge.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the callhandling unit determines whether the new caller is one of theindividuals that is to be automatically connected to the conference callbridge based on caller ID information that is obtained when thetelephone call from the new caller is received.
 20. The system of claim15, wherein the call handling unit obtains information from the newcaller that is indicative of the identity of the new caller, anddetermines whether the new caller is one of the individuals that is tobe automatically connected to the conference call bridge based on theobtained information and the obtained identifiers for individuals thatare to be automatically connected to the conference call bridge.
 21. Thesystem of claim 20, wherein the call handling unit interacts with thenew caller via an interactive voice response application to obtain theinformation indicative of the new caller's identity.
 22. The system ofclaim 15, wherein the bridge establishment unit obtains at least one oftelephone numbers and/or names of individuals that are to beautomatically connected to the conference call bridge.
 23. The system ofclaim 15, wherein when a first individual that is to be automaticallyconnected to the conference call bridge calls the telephone numbercorresponding to the conference call bridge, the call handling unit actsto cause the conference call bridge to be opened and automaticallyconnects the first individual to the conference call bridge regardlessof whether an administrator of the conference call bridge is present onthe conference call bridge.
 24. The system of claim 23, wherein whensubsequent individuals that are to be automatically connected to theconference call bridge call the telephone number corresponding to theconference call bridge, the call handling unit automatically connectsthose subsequent individuals to the conference call bridge withoutrequiring the subsequent individuals to provide any information relatingto the conference call bridge.
 25. The system of claim 15, wherein thecall handling unit connects the new caller to a telephony device used byan administrator of the conference call bridge when the new caller isnot one of the individuals that is to be automatically added to theconference call bridge, and when the new caller is present on a contactlist maintained by the administrator.
 26. The system of claim 25,wherein the call handling unit connects the new caller to a voicemailbox when the new caller is not one of the individuals that is to beautomatically added to the conference call bridge, and when the firstcaller is not present on the contact list maintained by theadministrator.
 27. The system of claim 15, wherein: the bridgeestablishment unit obtains a first list of identifiers for individualsthat are to be automatically connected to a first conference call bridgeand obtains a second list of identifiers for individuals that are to beautomatically connected to a second conference call bridge when thoseindividuals place a telephone call to a single telephone number thatcorresponds to both the first and second conference call bridges, andwherein the call handling unit: connects an individual that has calledthe single telephone number to the first conference call bridge withoutrequiring the individual to provide any information relating to thefirst conference call bridge when the individual is one of theindividuals that is to be automatically connected to the firstconference call bridge; connects an individual that has called thesingle telephone number to the second conference call bridge withoutrequiring the individual to provide any information relating to thesecond conference call bridge when the individual is one of theindividuals that is to be automatically added to the second conferencecall bridge; and connects an individual that has called the singletelephone number to at least one of the telephony device used by theadministrator of the first and second conference call bridges and/or avoice mailbox when the individual is not one of the individuals that isto be automatically added to either the first conference call bridge orthe second conference call bridge.